Blade dispensing container



May 15,1945.

N. TEST! BLADE DISPENSING CONTAINER Filed Feb. 11, 1944 Patented May 15, 1945 BLADE DISPENSING CONTAINER Nicholas Testi, Boston, Mass., assignor to Gillette Safety Razor Company, Boston, Mass, a corporation of Delaware Application February 11, 1944, Serial No. 522,007

6 Claims.

This invention relates to blade dispensin containers providing a convenient form of packaging razor blades for distribution, and furnishing the" user with a reserve supply of fresh blades completely protected against mechanical damage and rusting up to the moment of use.

The fine cutting edge of a safety razor blade is so delicate in its structure that it is easily damaged by any chance contact that may occur.

It is desirable that the manubefore actual use. facturer, who is best qualified to produce the fine edge of the blade, should also protect and pack the blades so that they may arriv safely in the user's hands and be maintained at his disposal until he is ready to proceed with the shaving operation. At that time the user should be able to draw fresh blades one by one from their container as required.

The present invention consists in improved container meeting all the requirements above discussed and having other advantages which will be pointed out hereinafter. Among these is adaptability or capacity for'conveniently handling blades of the open-end type, that is to say, blades having two similar sharpened portions separated by a longitudinal medial slot and connected at one end only by a transverse hinge member. Blades of this character have the advantage that, while they may be used in safety razors in which blade-clamping members are detachably connected, they may be also presented by endwise movement to safety razors in which the bladeclamping members are connected to permit only a limited degree of separation.

An important feature of the invention consists in an enclosure for containing a stack of blades of any convenient number in superposed parallel relation, the enclosure having an outlet slot disposed out of line with the stack and means under the control of the operator for engaging a single blade in the stack and swinging or turning it into the outlet slot where it can be conveniently grasped and withdrawn by the user. Preferably and as herein shown the enclosure is circular in contour and the turning of the blade selected for withdrawal is arranged to take place approximately about its geometrical center or axis 'of symmetry. This permits a particularly compact and symmetrical design of container and the provision of one particularly well adapted for handling double-edged razor blades.

in such a manner as to placehis fingers where they may not be endangered by the blade as it a new and tainer.

is advancedor directed into its discharging position. As herein shown this is effected by providing a blade-turning key with a spring mounting extending through the bottom of the container and so arranged that in order to render the blade-turning key'operative the user must displace the spring mounting and in doing so locate his fingers atpoints remote from the outlet slot.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a'plan view of the container with its cover removed;

Fig. 2 is a similar view Of the container cover;

Fig. 3 is a view of the container in cross-section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the complete container showing a portion of the cover broken away; i

' Fig. 5 is a view of the container in cross-section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a view in perspective of the key or blade-directing device;

Fig. '7 is a view in perspective of a spring designed to underlie the blade stack; and

Fig. 8 is a view in elevation partly in section illustrating a container equipped with a modified blade-turning key.

The container herein shown is adapted for use in connection with double-edged open-end blades of the well-known Gillette type, that is to say, a flat-blade 30 substantially rectangular in outline provided with 'reentrant corner recesses defining elongated unsharpened end portions in the blade and separated into two similar side portions by a long medial slot which opens out through one end of the blade. The slot in turn is provided with several intermediate enlargements 3| designed to receive the blade-locating projections of the'safety razors in which it is to be used. Ad-

'vantage is taken of these intermediate enlargements or apertures in the blade slot to hold the blades in superposed stack formation in the con- The illustrated container is of such dimension and shaped as to accommodate Gillette blades, but it is, of course, not limitedin its application to that or to any other particular type of blade but may be substantially modified in these respects to handle blades of other types, all

within the scope of the present invention.

The container is circular in outline and gen-- erally flat or disk shaped. A container of this character, one-quarter of an inch. in thickness for example, has the capacity for twenty blades of a thickness between .003 and.007. The body of the illustrated container comprises a substantially circular base i having an upstanding circumferential wall ll, both having a concave recess 2 or lateral depression roughly 45 in length and approximately one-quarter of an inch in depth; The bottom in is provided with a diametrically disposed well l3 in its bottom which is slightly narrower than the width of the blade to be handled and of sufficient width to retain in position the leaf-spring of Fig. 7. Rising from the well l3 in the bottom of the container are three aligned posts or studs to these being spaced to enter the intermediate enlargements in the slot of the stacked blades and to locate the blades in this formation, holding them against shifting either transversely or longitudinally and maintaining them always with their sharpened edges disposed well within the cir cumferential wall of the enclosure. The wall H is provided with an inlet slot IS in line with one end of the well l3 and also' with a segmental outlet slot |6 which extends for about 60 along its upper edge. Within the wall H are provided diametrically opposite posts or bosses H and these are tapped to receive screws by which the cover is held in place.

The cover 20 is generally circular, coinciding with the contour of the circular wall ll and including also a corresponding concave recess 23. It is also provided with a circular boss 2| centrally located and shaped to present a fixed annular flange. In one wall of this flange is provided a segmental notch 22 which is about 60 in length.

Within the boss 2| is mounted a key 24 shouldered to provide a disk portion fitting beneath the annular flange of the boss 2| and freely rotatable therein. A downwardly projecting rib 25 extends diametrically across the disk portion of the key 24 and above the disk portion is provided an ear 26 arranged to move in the notch 22 of the boss 2| and so limit movement of the key to an oscillation of approximately 45. In its upper surface the key is provided with a transverse slot 21 supplyin convenient means for engaging and rotating t e key as by a coin 29 suggested in Fig. 3.

In filling the container above described it may be assumed that the manufacturer will supply a stack of blades to the walled portion of the container as shown in Fig. 1, the cover 20 being removed for that purpose. The blades are disposed in the container in any desired number and with their solid or hinged ends located adjacent to the outlet slot IS. The cover 20 is then secured in place by attaching screws as herein shown, or any other desirable manner, and the manufacturer may then slip the curved leaf spring |9 through the slot l into the well |3 beneaththe blade stack. The spring [9 is forked to accommodate the blade-locating posts I4 and when once inserted has no tendency to be displaced but serves always to elevate the blade stack and hold the uppermost blade therein pressed against the cover 20. The posts I4 terminate beneath the cover-20 by a distance equal to the thickness of a single blade. Accordingly, all the blades of the stack are held positively against displacement except the uppermost blade face of the cover 20. The center post it of the three is located beneath and in alignment with the axis of the key 24 and its rib 25. The rib 25 is of such width as to fit freely into the slot of the uppermost blade 30 but is positively prevented by engaging the center post M from passing through the uppermost bladeto make engagement with the second blade in the stack.

It may be assumed that the filled container comes to the user with a stack of blades positioned in alignment as shown in Fig. 1. In order to remove a single blade he has only to turn the 'key 24 until the rib 25 thereof enters the slot of the uppermost blade, or it may be that the rib 25 will be found initially engaged in the slot of the uppermost blade. Having'once made engagement with the blade, however, the user has only to turn the key about 45 in order to rotate the uppermost blade of the stack into the posttion shown in Fig. 4, that is to say, with its solid or hinge end protruding into the recess 82 of the container. In that position the user may conveniently grasp the unsharpened solid or hinge portion of the blade and pull it outwardly in a radial direction. It will be noted that as the blade is withdrawn the rib 25 remains in the blade slot and so tends to guide the blade centrally through the outlet slot of the container and without danger of having the sharpened edges of the blade'touch anypart thereof.

In Fig. 8 is illustrated a container of a construction modified in that the key must be lifted by the user and moved to operative position by pressure applied beneath the casing of the enclosure. The purpose of this construction is to force or induce the user to keep his fingers completely out of range of the outlet slot and the blade as it is being delivered in order to avoid all danger of cutting himself as might happen if the container were otherwise handled carelessly.

In this construction the bottom IU of the enclosure, the upright walls II, the depression i2, the wall I3 and the two intermediate postsl l may correspond to the similar elements above described. The key 3|, however, is mounted to rotate and to lift within a circular boss 2| formed in the cover 20. The, key is provided with a disk portion 32 below which is disposed a diametrical rib 33 of a width fitting freely into the slot of the blade 30. The rib 33, however, is extended downwardly in a fiat narrow shank 34 which projects into a central opening in the bottom ID of the container. A spring 35 is attached to the bottom l0 near one edge and this extends radially beneath the bottom of the casing and carries a button 36 at its free end located directly in line with the end of the shank 34.

The blade stack is located, as before, within the circular enclosure being positively held by the two posts M which fit the intermediate enlargements or apertures of the blades, holding them superposed in alignment with their sharp and thus anchoring the uppermost blade, which which of course is free to move in the space be- J tween the tops of the posts and the under sur-' is otherwise free to move above the top of the posts M, to the blades immediately beneath it, those, of course being anchored by engagement with the stationary posts I l. However, when the spring 35 is pressed to lift the shank 34 the key II is moved upwardly in the boss 2| until its disk engages the upper wall of the boss 2 I. When this occurs the rib 33 has been elevated to a posipermost blade and the latter is guided in its movement of withdrawal by the rib-- 33 of the key which directs the blade safely out through the outlet slotof the dispenser.

The container herein disclosed may be constructed of metal, as for example by die casting, or it may be produced from moulded plastic material, or partly metal and partly plastic material. I prefer in any case to form the cover 20 of a transparent plastic, such as methyl-polymethacrylate, in order that the contents of the dispenser may be always visible to the user and he may determine at, a-glance when his supply of blades is mmning low.

'Havingthus disclosed my invention and described in detail/two illustrative embodiments thereof, I claim as new and desire to secure by tters Patent: v i. A blade dispensing container comprising walls including an annular wall forming a, sub

'stantially circular enclosure having an outlet slot for endwise removal 'of a blade, projections within the. enclosurefor locating. a stack of slotted blades therein out of with the said outlet slot, spring means within the enclosure for. disengaging the uppermost blade of the stack from said projections, and means movable from outside the enclosure for swinging" the disengazed blade into line with said outlet slot.

2. A blade dispenser comprising a substantially circular enclosure including an annular wall having a blade outlet slot therein for endwise removal 01a blade and a flat cover, projections within the enclosure for holding a stack or slotted blades and terminating below the cover by approximately the thickness of one blade, and a key mounted rotatably in the cover and having a rib fitting the slot of the uppermost blade in the stack.

3. A blade disI mser comprising a substantially circular enclosure including an annular wall hav- ,ing a blade outlet slot therein and a cover, projections within the enclosure for holding a stack of slotted blades in position at one side of the outlet slot, and a key mounted in the cover of the enclosure and having a rib movable through an angle limited forswinging a blade from the stack to said outlet slot.

4. A dispenser for slotted razor blades comprising a substantially circular casing having a concave depression in one wall and an outlet slot in said wall leading to the depression, projections within the enclosure for holding a stack of slotted blades in a diametrical position at an angle to the direction of blade-movementv through the slot, means for disengaging one blade of the stack from said projections, and a key having a rib fitting the slot of the disengaged blade and movable with the blade for directing its path of movement through said outlet slot. 5. A dispenser for open-end slotted blades, comprising an enclosure including an annular wall having a blade outlet therein, projections within the enclosure for holding a stack of openend blades directed away from the outlet, and a key having a rib fitting the slot of the blades and mounted in the dispenser to rotate for tuming a blade from the stackinto the outlet, the rib of the key then serving as a guide for th blade as it is drawn from the outlet.

6. A dispenser for razor blades, comprising an enclosure having upper, lower and peripheral walls, the latter having a blade outlet therein, means for locating a stack of slotted blades within the enclosure in a position away from said NICHOLAS TESTL key operative. 

